The Gathering

[black shadow]

The man led the two through the worn down roads, littered with the bodies if the monsters from the attack just hours before. The townspeople had already begun te cleaning of the bodies but had yet to complete the tedious task. Black Shadow's senses were at an all time high upon seeing the creatures, all of which were new to him. There was a trail of blood leading off into one alley, and as the three passed by the lifeless corpse of man sat leaning against the wall.

Black Shadow knew there was something wrong here, but as much as he wanted to help, that was not why they were here. The man led Black Shadow and Gavener to a building near the center if the village. Its stone walls showed many years of wear and te building was not even a hint if its former glory.

"Ask te front desk about te tower. They 'an help you wit your, uh... Quest." The man said as he opened the door. Once Black Shadow and Gavener entered the building the doors shut and left them alone. Black Sjadow rounded the corner, spotting a woman sitting at a desk. Standing talking to her were two men, one appeared to be an angel, or at least half if one, and the other a monk.

There was something odd about the two, and this caused Black Shadow to become suspicious. Black Sjadow hurried to the trio, hoping they would not leave before he ha a chance to speak. Gavner followed behind him, noticing the men aswell.

[dracoboy8]

Drake smiled and stretched his arms, yawning as he stepped out into the crisp atmosphere of Dheathain. The warm rays of the morning sun hugged the half-angel's cheeks and exposed flesh. Drake closed his eyes as he spread his soft, feathery grey wings that nobody else could see, letting them soak up the sun's light. He opened his eyes and they continued through the town square. Bodies of monsters still littered the street, the foul odor of their fluids that ran in the streets started to fill the air as the convoy passed through the square. When they reached the other end of the square, they came across the largest, and quite possibly the most ornate building in the village that had large darkly stained heavy wooden doors.

The building in its entirety was roughly five stories high, and looked almost like a smaller scale church- or at least it looked small to Drake who was mainly familiar with Corone style churches- that dubbed as a castle. The first two stories worth of height were held in a large, plain rectangular-based four walls that ended in a platform. Up at the top of the platform were murder holes for archers to shoot out of and be protected. This was where the castle look came from. Looking up, Drake even saw a large vat on each side which he presumed could be filled with boiling oil to dump over the side on unsuspecting assailants. From the platform rose a three story tower with keyhole windows that people could look out and possibly attack. Drake recalled seeing a picture of a similar shaped window in a book of ancient Corone architecture that described the keyhole as a magically protected window that would allow sorcerers to launch magic attacks from but not let magic attacks enter the window.

"Well, are you ready, Master Drake? Master Koli?" Victor proudly said to his two guests.

"This guy thinks far too highly of us," The half-angel muttered to Koli. "We are ready when you are, Victor."

Drake and Koli followed the man through the doors and into a warm foyer. To the right was a large oak counter with a middle aged, very attractive, brown haired woman who had soft, hazel eyes standing behind it. She was a half a head taller than the half-angel himself was, her face being more of a round shape than anything. Her jaw did not naturally protrude past her lips, nor was her face completely flat. Her cheekbones stood out ever so slightly, giving shadow and definition to the areas that were lest outstanding. Rather small, her nose was centered in her face giving the woman an almost perfect sense of facial beauty. She was wearing a black, soft yet tight strapless dress that complimented her breasts, which were perfectly proportioned to the rest of her slender body, and additionally gave definition to her backside. Long, wonderfully maintained hair flowed from her head and over her left shoulder, guided to rest below her collarbone. The woman took her hair and began to stroke it, running her fingers from both hands through it as she looked at Drake and Koli's entrance.

Something about this woman made Drake uneasy. This lady's attire was extremely unorthodox- especially for a back woods town in Dheathain- and she seemed almost like a temptress. The half-angel decided that it was probably best to have as little contact with her as possible; consequently, he further observed his surroundings. A wall was about five feet behind the desk, and a wooden door with a brazen knob. in the left corner of the wall Drake was facing was a staircase made of dark wood with a red carpet in the middle of the steps. Drake looked under his feet and saw the same red carpet with golden colored thread making small designs and trim on the edges. The carpet continued to the opposite wall of the entrance, which had another set of large, dark, heavy wooden doors that were not as large as the first set, but were still not average sized. The whole foyer was lantern-lit, giving it an exotic ambiance.

"This is Mae," Victor said, referring to the beautiful woman behind the counter, "She is in charge of the bookkeeping and files, as well as arranging meetings with the council and many other things. The list goes on and on, but you will learn more about her later."

"Aww, you're just a doll Victor," The woman said in a soothing, yet naturally seductive voice, "The council is ready to see you three now." She flashed a flawless smile at Drake and gave him a playful wink.

Oh gosh, Drake thought as they walked towards the other set of doors that led deeper into the building, Satan has his ways.

[Koli]

Koli began to proceed towards the door; however, just as he reached the large wooden port, it gently opened and an older man with a nice hairline stood in the entryway. He was about five foot nine with greying hair that was slicked back. Wrinkles lined his forehead and the areas around his mouth. He wore a long cloak with a fur collar and what looked like horns of great beasts coming from the shoulders of his garment. Knee-high black boots covered his lower legs, and a relatively large nose accompanied his soft, dark eyes.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, there seems to have been a misunderstanding," the man said in a polite, baritone voice. "The council is not ready for your audience yet. Our sincerest apologies."

"Very well," Drake replied with an understanding smile, "let us know when you need-"

The man unceremoniously stepped back into the room and shut the door.

"-us... Well I guess we have to stay here a bit longer Koli." Drake finished.

"Master Drake, Master Koli, I am terribly sorry!" Victor began to bumble, "I am so sorry for the council's being rude-"

"Ahem." Mae interrupted.

"Er... Unavailibility..." Victor finished. "Please, have a seat." He said motioning to a line of chairs to the right of the room that Koli had not noticed there before.

"That is quite alright, Victor," Drake said, "You have been more than hospitable to us."

Koli glanced around at Drake and Mae, removing his silver ring and looking down at it in his palm. He closed his eyes and then replaced it on his finger, enjoying the smooth, cool metal’s gliding down to the base of his phalange.

---

The retired priest opened his eyes to dee the pale, stagnant light of a familiar place that he grew up in. Koli looked around to find himself sitting in the sanctuary of the very church that he was raised in- the very church that he had sworn to protect the brother hood with his life in at one point. Large colorful transparent stained glass windows in the walls cast colorful shapes on the floor, but the pure light was still disingenuine luminescence, consequently, devoide of energy. Although the air was crisp and clean, a dank vibration saturated the atmosphere. Even the noises in the room, such as speaking or music were monotonous and bland. Not even footsteps gave the crisp, clear echo as they made boring “thud, thud, thud”s. Every breath tasted stale. Every color looked bleak. Every sound was dull.

Up at the front of the sanctuary was a slightly raised platform with a podium. Jalaphar, the head priest of the brotherhood, was standing behind it and holding a council meeting. He was primarily speaking to the council of priests- the high ranking members of the organization who had been selected to make important decisions for the brotherhood- which was in the first row of pews. The rest of the priests and monks who wished to attend the meeting sat in the other pews.

“… and due to the expenses of the organization, even though we are a declared self-sufficient brotherhood, some of the townspeople have been more than happy to give generous donations in return for the protection that we provide. With donations, it is much easier to have a better functioning brotherhood with all of our expenses completely covered. With more funding, we can bring in more training and expertise which will open the realm of our reach to be limitless, expansive, and even omnipotent.”

The crowd sat in silence, processing what Jalaphar said.

“And how do you propose that we obtain these… funds?” One of the priests from the council asked.

“If we continue accepting donations, we will be able to pay for minimal extra expenses, but if we talk to the town about a mandatory tithe…”

---

Suddenly Koli heard the noise of a door's opening and the former priest found himself once more staring at the silver ring that was on his finger. He looked around and found that two men were entering the foyar- a man with bright red hair who was dressed in a black traveling cloak, as well as a masked man garbed in all black with a bow slung over his shoulder.

Perhaps my being here was not mere happenstance...

[matthewkuch]

As Gavner stepped into the building- which was a rather elegant foyer for a town in Dheathain- instantly his vampric senses sharpened. The creature of the night became slightly more vigilant, as his senses sometimes became heightened when something was amiss. He smelled a mix of a strong bitter wood odor and one of weak mildew. The low lantern lighting dimly illuminated the foyer which first gave Gavner a tropical feel- conforming to the theme of Dheathain's natural climate. The walls were made of rich, deep brown wood and a large arch made of perfectly cut grey stone on the wall opposite the entrance formed the door frame of two large wooden doors. The doors did not have knobs but black iron rings to pull them open. Gavner’s eyes followed the bold red carpet that he noticed under his feet to the doors that led further into the building, but it also led behind a counter and up a staircase to the rear right corner of the foyer.

“Well, it looks like we are not the only ones on a mission,” Gavner said to Black Shadow as they approached the two men.

One of the men was hooded and garbed in a white robe with a shining gold belt buckle. He also had a black shoulder plate on his left side, and most of his face was concealed. A large, thick red cross was tattooed on his face running from the middle of his chin, the crossbar running across his cheekbones. He wore a grave facial expression, and looked very serious. The other person looked more like a boy than a man, as his facial structure looked young. He was rather thin and had blonde hair with glowing blue eyes. He had a black pack with a belt that throwing stars were strapped to.

“Goodmorning gentlemen,” Gavner said putting out his pale hand for the man in the white robe to shake, as he flashed his sharp, ebony black teeth in a wide smile, “Gavner Nahs. It is very nice to meet you.”

The man with the tattooed face nodded his head and shook Gavner’s hand. Nodding in return, the creature of the night’s gaze was lifted up to the man’s face and he noticed the man in white staring back with grave, white irises. Gavner found this rather odd but he showed no change in his facial expression or demeanor.

“And you might be?” Gavner said turning to the teenage blond haired boy.

“Drake,” the teen said offering his hand which Gavner shook, once again smiling. He felt the boy’s eyes on his dark teeth.

Gavner looked over to find Koli and Black Shadow shaking hands and exchanging serious looks. “Can he not speak?” The creature of the night asked Drake.

“Er… I’m afraid not,” the teenager replied, “Likewise with your… companion?”

“Yes, I am afraid we have the same situation with him.” Gavner said. “He is Black Shadow.”

“And he is called Koli,” Drake said motioning to Koli. “ It is very nice to meet both of you.”

“Likewise,” Gavner replied, “The man who led us here said that we must ask the front desk about-“

Gavner began walking behind the desk when a beautiful woman in a tight, black dress interrupted him, as she jumped in front of him, directly impeding his path. She was perfectly proportionate in all aspects, her whole body was entirely balanced and her face was a picturesque image of beauty. Gavner looked down at her and noted that she was about four inches shorter than he.

“Oh no no no,” she said in a high squeaky voice, “Please stay on the other side of the desk, sir, this is a highly restricted area.”

Instantly Gavner wondered what they were hiding. Something was amiss here. His attention was drawn to the lighting. Why was the foyer kept in low light? A plausible reason could be that the city wanted to save lantern fuel, but why would they have paid so much attention to the finish of the foyer if funding was an issue? The low light could have been instituted to hide something. But Gavner had certainly heard the rumors about Dheathain and it would not be anything out of the ordinary that the town was hiding something.

Quickly scanning the area behind the counter, Gavner noticed the door behind the woman with a brazen handle, undoubtedly locked.

“Ahem,” She softly said.

“Oh,” Gavner said returning his attention to the woman. His eyes wandered down to her chest and lingered. The vampire gently rolled his tongue imitating a tiger sound, his top lip rising to reveal his top row of sharp, black teeth. “I am terribly sorry miss,” his voice becoming softer and more seductive as he began to reach out to touch her shoulder “We were just told that-“

The woman’s hand darted up and snatched Gavner’s hand in midair. She grabbed his chin with her other hand and firmly lifted his head so he was looking her in the eyes. “Well you were told wrong,” she said in her higher pitched voice. “Now if you would be so kind as to step back, keep your hands to yourself, and keep your eyes in appropriate areas,” She said softly, “I may be able to address your situation and arrange a meeting with the council for you. Okay?” She finished sweetly. Gavner began to step back, but she held firmly to his wrist and stopped him. “I said okay?” She said in an even sweeter, higher pitched voice.

“Okay…” Gavner grumbled with a scowl, looking down at the ground. Just as he turned away, a wrinkle in the carpet caught the vampire’s eye. Looking at it, he saw that it’s unevenness on the ground left an exposed indent in the floor that looked like the possible corner of a trapped door. Normally it was too dark for a normal human to notice but Gavner’s vampire eyes could see in the dark.

“Ahem,” The woman said again, and Gavner turned away.

He walked back to Black Shadow’s side, ego throbbing, as he noticed his best friend silently laughing up a storm. Drake was holding the side of his index finger of a closed fist against his lips, trying to conceal a smirk and hold back a laugh as Koli’s face remained deadpan.

”She told you!” Black Shadow managed to say to Gavner in sign language.

”Shut up,” Gavner signed back, ”I sense something wrong here.”

”Yeah, because you just got turned down!”

”No, I-“

“Um,” Drake interrupted, “what are you doing?”

“We…” Gavner started, but just as he began, the doors leading to the inside of the building opened, and a tall man with a fur stole appeared.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “We apologize for the inconvenience that you may have encountered. We are ready for you now.”

“Thank you sir, we will be right in.” Gavner said before turning to black shadow. ”You stay back here. Look around and see what you can find,” the vampire said to his friend in sign language. ”I truly sense that something is amiss here. They are hiding something.”

Black Shadow nodded in compliance

"The smell of mold is not natural for such an elegantly upkept building. I saw a trapped door behind the desk, check the wrinkle in the carpet near the base of the staircase."
“Right this way, please,” the man in the fur said to the group.

”Be careful,”

[black shadow]

Black Shadow watched as his friends entered the council meeting room, the gigantic doors closing behind them. He was left standing in the main hall, alone with the woman. She was staring at him; her look of disgust was replaced with a slight look of interest.

This may be what I need. Black Shadow thought as he walked up to her.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" She asked, licking her lips.

Oh brother, the Dark Archer thought, trying to play along. He grabbed the pen off her desk and a piece of paper.

"You see, I can't talk. If I could, not one word would escape my lips that did not include the beauty that stands before me." He wrote. When Shadow handed the paper to Mae, he winked, hoping she would like it. Her face flushed a bright red when she read the paper, and Shadow could tell she was very embarrassed.

"Excuse me," She said, covering her face as she moved to a small door labeled 'employees only'.

Women. Shadow thought, searching for the trap door Gavner spoke of. A quick motion of his hand across the thin black carpet revealed the location of the door to Black Shadow. He slowly opened it, a soft creaking sound echoing through the hall. Shadow winced, hoping no one could hear. With his luck, not one soul entered in search of the source. Closing the trap door made no sound, and Black Shadow thanked the gods for that.

The darkness consumed the room Black Shadow now stood in, his hands barely able to be seen. The cold, damp stone walls were the only thing leading him through the halls. As he moved forwards, faint noises reached his ears. Soft roars, deep moans, and high pitched screeches grew louder and louder as he moved, soon sending Black shadow into a jog, run, and eventually sprint. Light slowly pierced the hallway around a corner, and Black Shadow began moving faster than he ever had before.

[dracoboy8]

Drake looked around as he stepped through the big doors. The room itself was colossal, and everything about it was elegant, never lacking in magnificence. The floor, perhaps the most lacking in beauty, was made of simple, rough hewn grey stone. At the other end of the room was a large, elongated wooden pulpit of a sort- one which judges usually sat behind. Behind the large wooden mass were six men with serious looking faces.

Smooth, light grey stone with beautiful carvings and sculptures made the first twelve meters of the walls of the building. Strange figures, carvings and busts of men and bewildering creatures, most likely unique to Dheathain's cannon, lined the base of the walls, yet there were no windows in the room; subsequently, Drake could not see them in very much detail. About twelve meters up the wall, a large balcony, wrought from dark wood, protruded out over the lower floor. It was beautifully carved, with stars, planets and vegetation- looking as if the vegetation was growing from the wood itself. The balcony sat atop all four walls, and was angled at such a way that it was difficult to see whether anybody was actually there watching. Above the balcony were four beautiful white walls that narrowed as they rose. Had a dove flown in front of the area, one could not notice the entity's existence, save its ebony eye which was the only thing that one may identify the creature by. At the top of the walls rested a cream color ceiling, in the center of which was a large square plot of Windows that light streamed through, dimly illuminating the whole room. Oil lanterns hung from the grey walls as well; however, they were not burning in this area of the building for some reason. The lack of light caused the edifice's features to appear forlorn and dreary.

Behind the elongated pulpit sat thirteen men, each one’s face illuminated by a candle. The man in the fur stole continued through the room, leading the three towards the opposite end of the room. The men seemed to come in different shapes and sizes, the majority of them had grey hair, save for three younger looking ones. One of them had short blonde hair with a goatee, and was sitting in the second seat from the left end of the congress. Another had short, deep black hair and was clean shaven. He was sitting at the very end of the right side. The third one had shoulder length, flowing brown hair, and a longer, angular face; this one was directly to the left of the man sitting in the center. They came to a halt, and their guide spoke once more in his elegant voice.

“Great council of Davensport,” he said, “your guests have arrived.”

Drake raised his eyebrows puzzledly. He had no recollection of being invited anywhere, nor receiving any summons of sorts from this town. Why were they here? What had caused the council, the supreme form of government of this town as Drake would assume, to request their presence? Obviously they wanted something from the four men, but what?

[Koli]

If any common person were to enter such a place as the convoy was led to, he would see nothing but paradoxes. Here he would be, standing in a larger than life government hall which was lavish, ornate, and seemingly the envy of even wealthy cities such as Radasanth, or Eluriand in its former glory, yet it was located in an impoverished town on the coast of Dheathain. It seemed that monsters constantly lay waste to the town, yet this hall was in pristine condition. The town seemed extremely poor; however, it had a port with what seemed to be constant traffic. Everything about this occurrence was out of place.

But Koli refrained from passing any judgement on this place. He had encountered many paradoxes in life, extending beyond situational paradoxes and irony. No, Koli knew better than to fall prey to the wonders and beauty of his environment. Standing seemingly at ease, yet having his entire body in a relaxed position that was poised to move at any moment, Koli relaxed. He would not try to read or profile these men, nor would he try to understand every aspect of their requests; he planned to have an open mind.

“Gentlemen,” said the man seated in the center of the ornate pulpit, “Welcome. The city of Davensport greets you warmly. “

The man spoke in a booming voice. He sounded friendly, but Koli could see otherwise. There was clear contempt in his demeanor, and with his words came a clear desire to serve a selfish motive. This man wanted something from them, and that much was evident. When none of the incoming group spoke, the man continued.

“You are hereby guests of The Grand Council of Davensport, which you stand before, how may we address you three?” The man boomed in his elegant voice.

---

A mandatory tithe? A mandatory tithe??

Koli jumped to his feet, and he glared at Jalaphar.

Blistering hot rage boiled deep within him. Had Jalaphar himself not warned of this very thing? Time and time again, the very head priest of the brotherhood, reiterated how protection, and good deeds must be given freely, and lovingly from the heart with none other in mind than good will and intentions. Even the idea of this mandatory tithe, this wretched, blasphemous, self-serving notion, was protesting the very core beliefs of not only Koli, but the organization that he swore to protect. But that wasn’t the only problem. Ever since Abbas Amo died, it was almost as if the true essence of the brotherhood had died as well; the teachings were completely skewed, and the motives, as well as the actions of the organization were unrighteous.

“Koli,” Jalaphar said with a tone of contempt, “Do you have something to say?”

Koli’s white irises changed to a shade of deep red, reflecting his rage. The head priest stared directly back into them, and his face instantly softened with empathy. When Koli was enraged, which was extremely rare as it only happened several times in his entire life, his eyes would turn red and cause all who gazed upon them to become empathetic. It was now or never. Koli had been waiting to express his disagreement with the brotherhood’s affairs for over a year now. In fact, there were many instances in which Koli wanted to question the methods of his Head Priest, Jalaphar, but out of respect, he held his tongue. After a time, Koli stopped speaking altogether. He hadn’t said a word in over a year now, and now he had a chance to make everything right. But maybe things were like this because he refused to speak in the first place. Maybe if he had just said something, things would have been different. Perhaps Koli didn’t deserve the opportunity to speak. Maybe he didn’t have the right to change the way things were now. But he had to. If anybody was to do anything, it was Koli. If anybody was going to change anything, it would have to be him.

Koli opened his mouth to speak; everybody seemed to lean in and hold their breath, but something stopped the young priest from protesting. He swore to devote his life to a righteous organization, upstanding and true; he swore to be a part of something that would always lead Koli down the right path, and part of that was respecting the Head Priest, and how he advised. Koli couldn’t bring himself to defy the Head Priest; it was not who he was; however, he could not serve under a Head Priest who was leading him against his morals. There was only one thing to do now.

Koli turned and walked from his pew into the aisle and began to exit the sanctuary.

“Koli!” He heard Jalaphar’s voice call out behind him, “Wait!” The ex-priest stopped in his tracks, and gave a look over his shoulder, his eyes once more white and emotionless.

A look of shock was in Jalaphar’s face. In that moment, everything was clear. All of his transgression, all of his corruption, and his evil deeds- but he didn’t care about any of it. All that he could see was his best friend, whom he had known for nearly all his life, leaving. In that moment, Jalaphar would have changed all of his ways- he even would have stepped down as Head Priest and given the title to Koli- to keep his best friend from leaving.

And some part of Koli, deep inside, knew that.

“Please…”

Koli looked back into the face of his friend, and slowly shook his head.

Goodbye, Jalaphar. Koli thought as he turned and walked out of the sanctuary.

[matthewkuch]

Gavner cast a sideways glance at Koli and Drake. They all exchanged looks, and Gavner nodded before he stepped forward and addressed the council. "Hello, council of Davensport. My..." Gavner hesitated for a moment, "Traveling companions, Drake and Koli... And I, hail from continental Althanas. My name is Gavner Nahs, of Clan Anoterish, and I will be our speaker."

"That is very formal of you," the blonde man with the goatee mused, "but such formalities are not required. We already know all three of you."

Hiding his confusion, Gavner kept a straight face. "So you have been expecting us?" The vampire asked in a neutral tone.

"Why yes," the man replied while stroking his facial hair, "But the more pressing question is, why did you leave our fourth guest, Black Shadow, in the lobby with Mae?"

Gavner was silent for a few moments. Although he was a general, he had never done diplomacy before, so he didn't know how to deal with pressing foreign governments. "The other member of our party, Black Shadow, had… certain matters, to attend to…” Gavner said.

“Oh, yes?” The shaven man with jet black hair on the left of the council boomed, leaning forward, “Matters of what importance?” The man said with a dangerous smirk.

“What can we do for you, council?” Gavner asked cooly, returning the smirk.

“The council hopes that you will excuse its pressing,” one of the men with grey hair and a pointed nose said, casting an impatient look to the younger member, “you all have your reasons, I am sure, which you are entitled to, and that we will respect. Black Shadow may join us whenever he is ready.”

“But, the sooner that Black Shadow joins us, the better. We can give our proposition in full.” A man with very long grey hair and a white mustache said.

“Until then, my dear council,” Gavner said in a very gracious tone, “Please give us your proposition.”

“Yes well, I suppose we can continue a bit without him.” The councilman on the end said.

“Why,” Gavner asked with a hint of impatience, “Are you so concerned with Black Shadow?”

The council was silent for a few moments. Some exchanged nervous glances, and there was a clear air of discomfort. Gavner has begun poking around, which clearly was uncommon. The council did the talking, the council asked the questions; the council held the power. Not the guests.

“Black Shadow is the most valuable to us at this point,” the man in the very center of the council said. When the man spoke, all fell silent. All listened respectfully, but it was almost as if all in the room fell under a spell when the man had something to say, save for the three travelers.

“We have important matters to discuss, regarding his father’s estate.”

[black shadow]

The light revealed a large room, dull and grey with stone, very tall, and very wide. The view Black Shadow could now see brought horror to his mind. Along the walls, on every side, in rows, and stack on top of each other, were various cages of various sizes all filled with the different monsters they had seen attacking the village. They all were in pain, being tortured, and some had parts of their bodies removed and replaced with some sort of Alerian machinery. Arms, legs, and even parts of the body and head were replaced by metal. One, a wolflike creature, had all four legs replaced and on the new legs were spikes. on its shoulder there was what appeared to be a cross bow.

Black Shadow walked to one of the cages and places his hand on the bars looking in. The creature did not even move in his presence, almost as if they were afraid to lash out in fear of punishment. The sight horrified Black Shadow. If this is what the town did, this is why the monsters were attacking, then Black Shadow would surely stop it.

"It's horrifying, isn't it?" A voice came from behind Black Shadow. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and drew his bowstring, aiming it at the figure's face. He was surprised to see then that it was Mae. She threw her hands up in surrender. "Please don't shoot me," She said softly. "I find all of this awful, they should not do this. The attack on the town, it happens because of this." [incomplete]